The lung is an organ under constant dynamic mechanical load. We exmine how such forces promote inflammation and tracheal differentiation.
C1 and C2 study how mechanical forces associated with blood flow or ventilation regulate pro-inflammatory responses in the alveloar epithelium and the alveolar space, respectively. The experiments employ a unique multitissue co-culture system, a novel bioreactor developed in house and a specialized mouse intensive care unit.
C3 examines how mechanical stimuli affect polarized ciliary motility in a bioreactor system for the production of functional tracheal implants.
Projects in area C provides expertise in the culture, differentiation and functional analysis of lung epithelial cells and their response to mechanical forces acting either directly on them or indirectly via the ECM and embedded blood vessels.
Impact: The expected results improves our understanding of how mechanical factors regulate inflammatory pulmonary diseases (C1, C2). They also potentially are relevant for preventing biotrauma caused by mechanical ventilation (C2, C3) and helps to fabricate functional tracheal implants (C3). This allows the in vitro analysis of inflammatory pulmonary disease from different perspectives in 3D models.
